#17 - PEARL HARBOR raid - Kaga's torpedo bombers

AII-305 was flown by a wingman of carrier Kaga - first wave. The crew were PO2c Ichiji Nakagawa (pilot), PO1c Haruo Yoshino (navigator/observer) and F1c Mitsuo Kawasaki (gunner/radioman). Its torpedo hits USS Oklahoma. The empennage base color is brown. One Kaga's KATE is known NOT to have a brown empennage.

PO1c Haruo Yoshino photo #1

Relic photo of PO1c Izumi Nagai's plane."This is a item recovered from a Japanese Navy Torpedo Bomber shot down over Pearl Harbor 7 Dec 1941. It is from Nakajima B5N2 (Kate) Bomber serial number 1105. A US Army detail, led by S/Sgt D.V.Norris, who were looking for downed aircraft, both Japanese and US, found the bomber with the crew still inside...". From eBay Item number: 6547935312 - Winning bid: US$5,200.00 "The B5N, from which this data plate came, crashed west of the harbor on land, north of Fort Weaver: US Army area. Pilot was Petty Officer First Class Izumi Nagai." INFO CREDIT: Mr. David Aiken .

AII-311 was flown by a buntaicho, Lt. Ichiro Kitajima (pilot) - First wave. Its torpedo hits USS West Virginia. The empennage base color is brown. One Kaga's KATE is known NOT to have a brown empennage.

"Japanese" crew. "The body of a japanese aviator" - USN Photo via Pearl Harbor, by H. P. Willmott, 1981, Bison Books Limited. Mr. David Aiken, Pearl Harbor historian, states that this caption is NOT right. Study reveals that the deceased has low-quarter 'service' shoes of a USN military sailor...not the Wellington style boot worn by the Japanese aviators.

AII-312 was flown by a wingman of carrier Kaga. The crew were PO3c Kashiro Yoshikawa (pilot), ? (navigator/observer) and PO2c Takeshi Maeda (gunner/radioman) - First wave. Its torpedo hits USS West Virginia. The empennage base color is brown. One Kaga's KATE is known NOT to have a brown empennage.

AII-312 Hasegawa model kit box-art

Kaga's crew. This photograph of 92 B5N2 pilots and crewmen from Kaga was taken on December 6, 1941 (Hawaii time), as the crew readied for the attack. By the end of the next day, 15 of them would be dead (Takeshi Maeda collection).Article "Torpedoing Pearl Harbor" - by David Aiken - Military History magazine - December 2001.

AII-324 was flown by a wingman, PO1c Hirotake Iwata (pilot). Its torpedo hits USS Oklahoma. The empennage base color is brown. One Kaga's KATE is known NOT to have a brown empennage.

AII-35x was flown by a wingman. The crew were: F1c Shuzo Kitahara (pilot), PO2c Yoshio Shimizu (navigator/observer) and PO2c Haruo Onishi (gunner/radioman). The empennage of this plane is green, not brown. An exception to the Kaga KATEs.

Naval Hospital's Kate AII-35xFive Kaga's torpedo bomber B5N2 were shot down by AA fire during the attack. This wing came from Airman 1st Class Shuzo Kitahara's plane. It ran into intense fire, and flames broke out. The smoking plane headed southeast. The hydraulics failed and the landing gear began to lower. It flew towards to the main hospital building, then the pilot stood up in the cockpit and the plane veered and struck the corner of the laboratory building and pancaked across the Hospital's tennis court. The two Japanese aviators in the plane were dismembered.

Naval Hospital's Kate AII-35x"Wing of a Japanese Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Plane ("Kate") that crashed at the Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor, during the attack. This plane came from the aircraft carrier Kaga. Its "Rising Sun" insignia has been largely cut away by souvenir hunters" - U.S. Naval historical Center photo.

Naval hospital's B5N2 relicHospital Kate Fabric. Removed from the B5N wreckage by Dr. John Duncan MacPhearson II, orthopedic surgeon, USN Hospital, Pearl Harbor. This is a flash photo made inside with ambient tungsten light. Note the lower portion of the "A" and the lower part of the Roman Number "II" with serifs.

Hospital Kate starboard rudder fabricThis is also a flash photo made inside with the ambient tungsten light. Dr. John Duncan MacPhearson's son saw the Kate go over his head at about 50 feet as he, his sister and mother were lying on the ground to escape the low flying Kate. He also related to me that he made eye contact with a crew member as the Kate went over him prior to it crashing a short distance away on the tennis court of the Hospital. Dr. MacPhearson's son recently passed away but prior to his passing, made arrangements for the artifact to be Willed to Mike Wilson, former curator of the Pacific Aviation Museum.

"Naval Hospital crash site"The three small buildings in the background are for the three Chief Petty Officers quarters -the three head "nurses" over the hospital. The photo is taken from the tennis court toward the CPO quarters...the hospital is to the right out of the camera view and to the rear of the cameraman. This is the crash site of the B5N which only the lower wing shows a "5"...to construct the code: AII-35x... PHOTO CREDIT: LIFE magazine. Info credit: Mr. David Aiken.

Naval Hospital area - Pearl HarborThere were five crashed B5N2s at Pearl Harbor, all from KAGA. All were lost to AA fire. (1) AII-356 was investigated and crashed in Southeast Loch (USN area). (2) AII-35x came down on the US Navy Hospital grounds (USN area). (3) AII-3xx came down aft of USS Nevada (unrecovered near the base of the new bridge to Ford Island): US Navy area. (4) AII-3xx came down just north of Kuahua Islet (unrecovered): US Navy area. (5) AII-3xx crashed west of the harbor on land, north of Fort Weaver: US Army area..." INFO CREDIT: Mr. David Aiken.

AII-356 was flown by a buntaicho - First wave. The crew were Lt. Mimori Suzuki (pilot), CPO Tsuneki Morita (navigator) and PO2c Yoshiharu Machimoto (gunner/radioman). This aircraft was shot down by Anti-Aircraft-Fire. The empennage base color is brown. One Kaga's KATE is known NOT to have a brown empennage."Kaga Buntaicho Lieutenant Mimori Suzuki led the last six torpedo aircraft into the waters of Southeast Loch - and found himself the next target of the warships' AA fire. His bomber was just above the submarine pen when a lucky bullet hit his warhead. The concussion from the resulting explosion knocked down sailors on the submarine dock. The plane's engine flew on, but Suzuki was instantaneously decapitated as everything forward of him disappeared. The plane hit the water near the southwestern tip of Kuahua. The remains of Suzuki's plane, AII-356, were subsequently recovered, along with the body of his navigator, Chief Petty Officer Tsuneki Morita. One of the sailors charged with delivery of the body to the morgue wanted Morita's boots so badly that he sawed the swollen feet off to gain more time to get the boots off. Suzuki's B5N2, sans engine, gave the Americans their first look at Japan's first-line carrier-based attack bomber."INFO CREDIT: Article Torpedoing Pearl Harbor - by David Aiken - Military History magazine - December 2001"

Lt. Mimori Suzuki photoPHOTO CREDIT: from the memorial for Lt. Mimori Suzuki at Aoba-ku Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Site: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~un3k-mn/saki-umiwasi.htmAn American diver made two dives on KAGA B5N2 AII-356 serial 3178... about a week after the attack. The first was an orientation trip and he found the decapitated pilot... He cut the harness and the pilot popped to the surface. Pilot was Taii (Lieutenant) Mimori Suzuki. No film or still camera was present on that first dive.INFO CREDIT: Mr. David Aiken

AII-356 - crew photo #1The "floater" in the movie still is the radioman (gunner) on board: Nito Hiko Heiso (Petty Officer Second Class) Yoshiharu Machimoto. This film was made during the second dive when the diver located the radioman. The diver had cut the harness and Machimoto popped to the surface, loosing his boots in the process. Apparently, the hachimaki headband is still wrapped on his head, or his neckscarf has moved.INFO CREDIT: Mr. David AikenTo see this movie: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675038763_Japanese-torpedo-plane_hoists-on-a-crane_wrecked-plane_Japanese-attack

AII-356 - crew photo #2 "Corpse of a Japanese airman is hoisted from a downed airplane after several days in the harbor. His face was eaten by the crabs prior to recovery." Info and photo credit: East Wind Rain, by Stan Cohen, (1981, expanded 1991, corrected 1994, title changed to: Attack on Pearl Harbor, 2000) page 94.The diver missed that third man... it was too murky on the harbor bottom. The cable was finally installed to recover the aircraft... The plane bent in two as the plane broke the surface. The third man was found in the wreckage after they finally raised the plane... the photo is quite grisly due to the crabs eating the facial features... Koku Heisocho (Warrant Officer) Tsuneki Morita was the "Observer"/navigator/bombardier.INFO CREDIT: Mr. David AikenTo see this movie: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675038763_Japanese-torpedo-plane_hoists-on-a-crane_wrecked-plane_Japanese-attack